Turmoil
by Kurrambera
Summary: A review will be greatly appreciated. An acccident leaves Stephanie, her family and friends in turmoil. Ranger comes to the rescue...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"No, you don't love me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

What can I say? I am a real DOPE when it comes to men. I have been literally drooling over my on again off again boyfriend - Trenton SUPERCOP Joseph Anthony Morelli - for 15 years. He played choochoo with me when I was 6, took my virginity at 16 and now... after almost ten years of being free of Morelli, he appeared in my life again. The only difference is that this time he has decided that he is in love with me, wants to marry me and have lots of children (two - that's a whole load). He has been pretty consistent for the last three years... other that the occasional off again "break."

He has fallen into typical Burg Male wanting to settle down mode. He really believes (and tries to convince me) that the best thing for us is to settle down RIGHT NOW. Well we've cohabitated (on & off again) in the last three years. To my surprise it has been easy; we seem to have molded to each others habits. BUT, on the other hand Joe is so consumed with the idea of the Burg family life that he has not bothered with romance, wooing or sweet talking. He is so sure that we WILL end up together that, in his mind, there is no need for that.

"Listen we've been at this 'relationship' for a little over three years, yet you have never took me out on a real date!" I mean if you call shopping a date than maybe we've dated a few times.

"Cupcake, we don't need all the lovie dovie shit to know we love each other"

"Hummmpph". He doesn't even know I want the lovie dovie shit.

"What are you telling me that after three years of being together you want to date?"

"Joe, don't you think it's a little weird that you are sooooo in love with me, yet you can even bring yourself to take me on date, you have never bought me flowers or a gift just to say you love me"

"Crap" he sighed. He tilted his head back so far I thought he was going to fall over, He ran his hands through his hair and then down his face. "Ok. You are right. I have a real crappy week coming up, but let's go out to dinner on Friday night." God, he looked like a ten year old boy after his mother had made him apologize to the smaller kid for picking on him.

"Fine, if it's what you really want I will be happy to join you." I said with a smirk on my face.

"Where are we going? What should I wear?" I asked trying to see how far he was willing to go; I wanted to know if he considered Pino's a date.

"Well we can go to the new Italian restaurant downtown, it's supposed to be real nice and elegant" Ok, so maybe he was taking this a little serious after all. HEHEHEHE.

And then there is Ranger... ohhhhhh Ranger. He is a tall Cuban-American with Mocha Latte skin, muscles that are just yummy, lips that are scrumptious and big brown eyes that burn your skin. He is Mr. Macho himself, a real badass, many feared him, women dream about meeting him, and me? I drool all over him. In short he is every woman's wet dream, the forbidden apple. Well I have to be honest and say that I've taken a few bites out of that red juicy apple, and let me say... YUM!

Ranger and I have had three years worth of stolen kisses and touches, we did sleep together once but it was while Joe and I were on a "brake." He told because of his life style he didn't do relationships and sent me back to Morelli. That was about a year and half ago, and the kisses between us didn't end, the sexual tension had built up to the red-hot zone. That was until one day one of his Merry Men called to tell me that Ranger was called on assignment with the government and was going to be incommunicado for a very long time. It has now been seven months since he left without a word. I've asked Tank, his right hand man, about him, but all he could say is that no news was good news.

Well it's Monday and I have five days to get ready for my first date with my boyfriend. I mean I can only imagine the crazy wild animal sex that we are going to have after the date. I mean Morelli is greaaaat in bed... a real Italian Stallion. His has the best ass in Trenton, and boy, does he use does muscle well while in bed.

I called Lula and told her to meet me at the mall with comfortable walking shoes, because it shopping time! We met up at the food court and did Olympic tract circles around the mall all day. I got my outfit, underwear and shoes for the Friday night's date. As I was coming out of the mall, just as i reached my car i felt the oddest thing. A flash of heat ran through my body accompanied with a wave of nausea so strong I had to drop to my knees to overcome it. I was sweating profusely and I was starting to shake a bit. I was on my knees for a few minutes until I felt ok to get behind the wheel.

As I drove home I started thinking that it was the third time in the last week that I've had an episode like this. So I whipped out my cell from my pursed and called my doctor.

"I think I need to come in, there might be something wrong with my blood sugar or something." They gave me a 4:30PM appointment, which gave just enough time to pick up a Boston cream at Tasty Pastry and head to the Dr.'s office. A girl has to have her priorities.

I sat there swinging my feet off the medical bed in the exam room, waiting for my Dr. to return with blood test results. He had told me that it probably was my sugar given my unhealthy and lack of exercise. He came into the exam room holding a container.

"What are those?" I asked him with curiosity.

"Vitamins!" he said with a smile on his face and a lot of amusement.

"I knew it! My blood sugar is all mess up isn't it?" I exclaimed wailing my hands around.

"No, they are prenatal vitamins, you're eight weeks pregnant!" he was smiling a full ear to ear smile. He has been my Dr. for about fifteen years and I'm sure he was glad that he was the one giving me the good news.

"B..b...but I'm on the pill, we've used condoms!" I managed to gasp as astonishment took over my speech.

"Steph I've been a physician for over thirty three years, if I had a nickel for every time someone said that to me I'd give Trump a run for his money" he said with a giggle. "Listen it happens, maybe you missed a couple of pills in a row, that's all it takes"

I left his office with a goody bag filled with my vitamins, literature on pregnancy, and the actual pregnancy test strip with the stupid red line indicating a positive result. He said that people usually love to keep it as a memento. Ha! Little does he know it's the last keepsake I want to have.

Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Damm Shit! Fuck!


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

I've spent the whole week mostly sleeping or just dragging around in my apartment. I've used the excuse that I had the flu... doing the fake cough and sneezing every time someone called to see how I was.

I haven't seen much of Joe either, he's been working around the clock on this big case and had only stop by once on Wednesday.

I have actually found enough courage and decided to tell him about the baby tonight during our date.

I am Catholic and I don't believe in abortions, so in this week's time I've come to accept the fact that I'm going to be a mother... oh brother!

I had everything set for our date... I thought it would be cute to surprise Joe with a present! Hehehehe. I wrapped the pregnancy test strip in a little long box and put a red silk ribbon on it.

I was dressed and waiting for Joe, he said that he would pick me up at 7:30... Well it was now 8:15! Damm it... he never kept his word. Maybe he forgot. Crap and this is the father of my child! I mean I cant even rely on him to pick me up on time for our first date. Just then he opened the door and smiled. See, that was the smile that kept getting me into trouble for the past fifteen years.

"Hey cupcake, sorry I'm late. I had paperwork to finish up." He was wearing light tan Dockers that hugged his ass, lucky pants! A light brown crew sweater that showed off his toned chest just beautifully, and brown suede shoes. He looked hot, and he knew it!

"Sure Joe, that's a nice excuse for forgetting our first date" I said in a low sad voice. What was I going to do…? I'm not even sure if I loved him enough to marry him... but I have a baby on the way... think about the baby Steph.

"No! Don't say that, I didn't forget. You know I've been working on this case for 5 months now" He said as he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me through the apartment door and locked it behind us.

"Now let's get in a better mood." He pressed my body against the wall next to the elevator as we waited for it, and gave me the mother of kisses; hot, very hot. He tasted like peppermint, smelled like soap. He'd just taken a shower and the clean smell mixed with his sexual essence made my knees weak. As the elevator opened he pulled away and tugged me towards it by my hand. I mean, he had to or I was going to fall right there.

As we pulled into the parking space of the restaurant I noticed Joe was checking a message in his pager for the third time since we left the apartment, he ignored it.

He came around my side of the car and opened the passenger side door and held out his hand to me. As I lifted myself from the seat I felt the dizziness and heat flash run through me again. No nausea this time, but the Dr. said that it would be normal to feel faint and nauseous from time to time. I slumped into Joe's chest and he held onto me tight.

"What's wrong Steph? Are you Ok!" I could feel the vibration in his chest as he spoke.

"Uhmmm, yeah, I'm ok" I said squinting my eyes shut so tight so that the world would stop moving.

"I think I still feel a little weak from the flu, but it'll pass." Hopefully, I mean this wasn't going to last the whole pregnancy.

After a few minutes of Joe holding me, I was feeling better; we were pulled apart by the vibration of his pager going off AGAIN. Damm it.

"Crap, the station keeps paging me. Lets go inside, get a table and I'll make a phone call" And so we did. After a few minutes Joe came back with his cop face in place.

"Cupcake, there might be an important brake on the case later on tonight, after dinner I'll drop you off at your apartment, I'll check out the source and I'll meet you at your place later tonight, ok?" Well this could be good news and bad news. Good news because I think I'm going to have to tell him here in the restaurant (hence public place) rather than take a chance that he might not show up at my place later. Bad news I don't want him to rant and rage about my pregnancy in public. What to do?

We ate dinner in blissful silence... Thank God. My palms were sweaty and the fork kept falling off my hand. I fidgeted on my seat all through the meal. Oh God, now or never.

So I dug my hand in my purse looking for his present. Just then his pager went off again; he made a growl sound, gave the "one minute" gesture and walked to the bar to make another phone call. I rested the present in front of his side of the table.

"Steph we need to go right now!" he said as he stood over our table, took out his wallet and dropped some bills on the table. He grabbed my left hand started tugging; I used my right hand to grab my purse and the present off the table. No need for the whole burg to find out about our little bundle of joy before Joe did.

He didn't even notice the tightly packaged box decorated with a silk red ribbon on the table.

"Cupcake, you can drop me off at my house, I'll pick up my car there and you'll go to your place and wait for me." He looked nervous, weird.

"I'll stop by as soon as I'm done working." He looked like he was in such a hurry that he almost looked a bit guilty. Why?

I felt that something was wrong? Why would he make drive to his house first?

As soon as Joe got out of the car I blew a good bye kiss to him and he got into his SUV, turned over the car and waited for me to drive away. And so I did.

But this whole thing felt weird. Why is he in such a rush... its not the "I gotta go to work" rush, no, it was more of the I gotta get away now rush. hhhhmm.

So I did what any normal burg girl would do. I pulled over on the next street in between two cars and waited for him. He pulled out of his spot and turned right. Right it is.

I followed him all the way to the outskirts of Trenton; he was heading to Hamilton Square. That's odd, why would he need to leave Trenton to go see a "source."

But little did I know that things were going to get even weirder. He stopped at a diner, got out of the car and walked inside.

The diner had that old style look of a trailer so it had big windows all around. I could see that he ordered a drink and something else. He paid, got his bag and walked out. We just had dinner!

He walked across the street. I hadn't notice that the diner was located in front of a motel. Maybe that's where he's meeting his informant. He went to the motel office; I'm assuming he was getting a room. He was in there for about five minutes and then walked to door number 27. He walked into the room and I waited. Obviously his informant wasn't there yet.

About ten minutes later I noticed a real nice sports car drive up. It parked near the stair case that leads to the second floor. I thought my heart stopped when I saw Terri Gilman get out of the car.

She was dressed in a long leather coat. And it's spring! She was over dressed… odd. She sprinted to the stairs and went onto the second floor. Her short blond hair was done up perfectly, even through the coat you could see her big boobs and curvy butt. She wore black FMP that shone brightly every time she passed a light.

She came to a stop in front of #27. How did she know? She fixed herself up and opened the door. She stood there at the entrance looking in. She opened her coat and out of nowhere I saw Joe grab her from her waist, kiss her and pulled her into the room and slammed the door shut.

"Oh God" tears started falling. "This can't be happening." I started sobbing.

"Not again." I felt my heart ache the same way it did the day I found the Dick screwing Joyce Barnhart. I froze in that position, clinching the steering wheels until my knuckles turned white, my head thrown back into the head rest.

After about 15 minutes in that position my blood began to boil. I thought about all of things that could have been between Joe and me. We had a baby on the way, but that was no reason to keep going on with this charade.

I got out of my car and stomped all the way to the stairs. With every step up I took I got more furious, hurt, betrayed, laughed at, played with and broken. I had to see his face. I had to confront him.

I remember that in his moment of heat he had just slammed the door. I bet they didn't even lock it. I took three big breaths, took out the present from my purse and put my hand on the doorknob. With one swift move of my hand the door flew open.

They were on the bed, facing away from me. The skank was on top of Joe naked, riding him. Their surprise was so grand that she hopped off of him and he sat up instantaneously.

"Stephanie!" he screamed.

"What... how...look..." he gasped, as he tried to find his clothes around the bed. The slut was just laying there naked with the biggest smirk on her face. I wanted to claw her eyes out, rip her hair out of her skull and kick the shit out of her.

I stood in the hall outside of the room staring at him. It seemed I was there for an hour, but it was only one minute.

"Look it's not what it seems... I ..." he pleaded. Bastard. How could he. He doesn't love me.

"This was your surprise for tonight" and with that I threw the perfectly wrapped box with the silk red ribbon and flung it at him. It hit him on his chest. I wanted to see the look in his face. I wanted to the shock, the pain in his face. I needed him to understand what he had just done.

He stared at me and I motioned with my finger for him to open it.

"Here? Now?" he yelled. I could see the sweat start to drip from his forehead. The veins in his neck were throbbing deeply. I knew he was nervous, almost scared.

He started to unwrap the bow, staring at me. My eyes began to fill with tears, my hands started to shake. He ripped the box open. Staring at me still, not wanting to see what was in the box. I nodded towards the box and he finally looked down.

He stared at the box for a whole minute with his other hand frozen in the air. His closed his hand into a fist and I could see all the muscles in his body tense up. He started breathing heavily and fast. He knew what he had done. He knew how much he'd hurt me. How much he'd hurt our baby.

He finally looked up at me with sad, half closed eyes. My face was a mess, full of tears, red from anger.

"Do you see what you've done?" was all I could muster out of myself. I turned towards the stairs and started running. I could hear him yelling out my name, I could hear him asking me to wait. But I knew I had a head start on him. He was still naked and I knew he was not going to run after me in his birthday suit.

I charged the stairs two at a time, fumbling with the rail and trying to hold on as much as I could. As I made it half way through the lot I heard his voice out in the open and I knew he was going to start chasing me. I ran as fast as I could. Tears blinding my sight. My head spinning in every direction possible. Dizziness starting to take over my body.

"Cupcake wait, we need to talk, please give me a chance to talk to you" He pleaded as I heard his voice getting closer to me. "I need to explain myself."

Without even thinking I came to a sudden stop, not realizing that I was in the middle of the busy street. I turned around to see his desperate eyes pleading for me to stop. But I didn't want to stop I wanted to run all the way home. I wanted to run and forget my problems. But as I turned around I caught a glimpse of two headlights, boy they were awfully close.

"Steph look out; get out of the way, please!" He screamed at the top of his lungs but it was too late, too dark for the driver of the SUV to see me.

Then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Joe's POV

Oh shit! Crap! How did she find me? What am I going to say?

"Cupcake" I gasped. Oh my Lord, the pain in her eyes, the anger, t..t..the hate? No, no she doesn't hate me. She could never.

"What...How...Look..." I could not find the strength to form sentences. My mind was racing, my body trembling, sweating. I need to get dressed, get her out of here.

"Look it's not what it seems... I..." What is wrong with my brain…? I can't make a clear thought come out of my mouth. And where are my fucking clothes.

She flung something at me and it hit me on my chest. It fell on my lap. It was a box. Wrapped in gold wrapping paper and tied with a pretty red silk ribbon. What is this? A present? For me? Now?

"This was your surprise for tonight." Oh God she had a nice evening planned out and I... Jesus.

She gestured with her finger at the box. "Here? Now?" I yelled. How can she want me to open this? Shit.

Fine. I tore the bow and wrapping paper and opened the box in five seconds, all the while staring at her. I saw her eyes tear up. Her hands started to shake. I knew that whatever was in the box was important. I've never seen so much hurt in her eyes and so much emotion being held up in her chest.

She nodded towards the box, instructing me... No demanding me to look. As my eyes fell on the open box my heart stopped. There neatly placed between folded yellow, pink and blue tissue paper was a pregnancy strip. I know what they look like from all the commercials on TV. I also knew what the red line on the meant a positive result. Shit.

She's pregnant. Shit. She's pregnant. She's having my baby. My baby.

Oh God. What have I done? Jesus. My heart was thumping hard in my chest, sweat started to form on my forehead, my head was doing sprints around the tract. I can't look at her... how could I...

I finally looked up and saw raw anger and sadness in her face. "Do you see what you've done?" And just like that she turned away from the room and started running.

"Fuck, where are my fucking clothes?" I barked at Terri. I stood finding my pants on the other side of the bed. I threw them on as fast as I could, zipping them up as I started sprinting. When I got to the outside of the room she was already running through the parking lot heading for the street. I flew down the stairs.

"Cupcake wait, we need to talk, please! Give me a chance to talk to you!" She doesn't know what she's doing. She is so enraged that she hasn't realized she's running towards to street with no intention on stopping.

"I need to explain myself." I ran as fast as I could. I need to reach her before she gets hit by a car.

Then suddenly she came to a stop, and turned towards me. It was dark but I could still see her eyes, full of tears, anger and immense sadness. She didn't realize she was in the middle of the street. It was too late.

"Steph look out; get out of the way, please!" I screamed at the top of my lungs but it was too late, too dark for the driver of the SUV to see her until it hit her.

Her body was raised by the front bumper and thrown into the windshield of the SUV. She didn't land on the floor until the SUV came to a full stop. I could feel my legs give out on me as I reached her.

She was unconscious; the cut from her forehead covered most of her face with blood. There were cuts and scrapes throughout her arms. But I almost lost it when I saw blood run down from between her legs. My hands were shaking as I cupped her stomach. OH NO! Please, no... Not that. Christ.

As we drove in the ambulance to the hospital the paramedics tried to stabilize her as much as they could. She was loosing a lot of blood from her womb. I thought I felt my heart give out on me about a dozen times, and I cursed it every time I felt it start beating again.

As soon as we got to the hospital, Dr.'s and Nurses flew to her side. They took her away and I was left by myself. How could I do this to her? I don't deserve her. After all the fights about her quitting her job and becoming a housewife and mother... Jesus. She was going to try. Maybe she did love me the way I loved her.

"Excuse me sir" a nurse called out to me.

"Yes, ma'am, how is she?" I forced myself to control my horror.

"Well we are still working on her, but I think that you should notify her family and friends, she took a big hit and will probably be out for a while" She was holding my hand at this point. I could see that she was not telling me something.

"I'm her fiancé, what about the... the... b...baby, my baby" At this I felt my chest cave; I knew she wasn't going to give me any good news.

"Ok, well she was hit right on her abdomen and upper chest. She sustained a lot of internal injuries which are being worked on right now," she said with hesitation and weariness in her voice. "I'm sorry, but the impact was too severe, the baby didn't survive. I'm sorry"

"No, NOOOO, NOOOOOOO, No... No...No...No" I whispered, I openly cried for the lost of my unborn child. I had only known about him or her for less than two hours but I already loved him like he was here with us. The nurse was holding me, trying to support my weight on her shoulders.

I sat in silence in the waiting room for what seemed to me to be hours... only to realize it had only been 40 minutes since the nurse had gotten me one of those scrub shirts the Dr.'s wear, I had forgotten I was still half dressed. I pulled myself together and called Marylou first. I didn't have it in me to be here alone when her family came in.

Within 10 minutes she flew into the emergency room and demanded I tell her what happened. I did, and she was sobbing.

"They haven't come out since to say anything else about her condition, it's been and hour now since the nurse went back," I said in the most ashamed voice I could get out of me.

"You broke her heart, you did it to her again" she sobbed. "You managed to break her heart AGAIN, do you have some kind of mission?" she yelled. "She waited for you, for almost two years after you screwed her when she was sixteen" her hands had formed fists. "She cried for a whole month when you just turned around and left her laying on that floor!" She was enraged. "But you never came back; it took her two years to get over you!" She got up and was hovering over me now. "And now you managed to do it again, but now... now its worse... you... you..." she sobbed, not being able to finish the sentence.

"I know, I know" I cried.

"No, you don't know. She was willing to give it all up for you. All of it. And what do you do? You cheat on her. How long?" she demanded to know.

"God, Marylou. Do we have to do this now?" I asked solemnly.

"YES, I need to know." She yelled.

"4 months now... you have no idea how sorry I am" I pleaded, I sobbed.

"You fucking asshole. You bastard. The whole that time you've been demanding that she leave her job you've been fucking that slut." With that she walked to the other side of the room and sat at a corner chair and started sobbing.


	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

Two Weeks Later

Oh brother! What a headache. Crap, my body aches everywhere. I tried to open my eyes, but that hurt too. I couldn't remember where I was, I know I was laying on something soft. Ok. Let's try this again. I tried really hard and finally they gave way to reveal bright light. I was in a pale green room with a white ceiling and a flower border.

"Jeeezz, it feels like I've been hit by a truck" I said while I moaned at the pain that shot up my back as I tried to move. "God, everything hurts"

"Hey Babe" This came from the corner of the room. I couldn't see him because I couldn't manage to lift my head.

"Shh, Shh, try not to move" I heard footsteps approaching. Man, am I out of it, or what. I could almost swear I heard...

"How you feeling Tiger?" HOLY SHIT, its Ranger. Just then I saw him come to my line of view. He was wearing a white sweater with faded jeans and boots. Not his usual attire, but he looked yummy. His hair was short, he had a line of hair around his chin, and... No earring? What the hell was going on?

"Hey yourself" I said trying to move around the bed a little.

"Hold on, try not to move too much" He held his hand out to help place my head better on the pillow.

"Ranger, what's going on? Where am I?" I winced as the head movement caused pain down my neck.

"Babe, you're in the hospital, you've been out for the last two weeks, and you had us a bit worried" He did look worried, tired, and weary. He lost some weight too, but he still looked good.

"Out, what do mean out? What happened? I don't remember anything" Lets see now... fight with Joe, Dr.'s office... Oh God. I'm PREGNANT!

"Listen Babe, Marylou was just here. She went to get some coffee. It'll be better if she told you." He looked uncomfortable; he was fidgeting with this sweater.

"Ranger, you can tell me what happened just the same. Spill it"

"Babe, I don't know if it's my place" He said with fear in his eyes.

"Ranger, please!" Something was wrong... I could feel it. Tears started down my face. "The baby?" I whispered.

He ran his hands through his hair and down his face. He looked at me with sadness.

"I'm sorry babe, you got hit by a car and there was extensive damage to your organs, a severe concussion, and... and... You lost the baby"

"NO, No, NO" I sobbed. "Please Ranger tell me anything but that!" There was a new pain; in my heart... it ached deeply for my baby. I cried, sobbed and I tried to get up, but he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Listen babe, there was nothing they could do. The miscarriage happened on impact. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry"

I couldn't gather the strength to speak, all I could do was cry. Why does this have to happen? Crap what did I ever do? Darkness took over my mind. I saw black spots everywhere. I closed my eyes and slipped away.

A few minutes later...

"Hey Ranger" said Marylou as she walked in the room holding two cups of coffee.

"She woke up" whispering.

"Oh Lord!" she squeaked. "What did she say? How did she look? What did you tell her?"

"Well, she looked kind of out of it. She asked about the baby, and I told her. She cried and she fell back asleep." He said with the sadness in his eyes.

"Oh God... I'm afraid what how she is going to react when she wakes up." Marylou said as she thought about the future and all the emotional and physical pain her best friend will be enduring.

"Well we're here. We'll help her out." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I just don't know what we are going to tell her about Morelli."

"Well that bastard hasn't shown up here in a week, so if you ask me... we tell her the truth. That he is a piece of scum!" She stated.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Joe's POV

It has been two weeks since Stephanie's accident, and I have never felt worse. It has been the longest and darkest time in my life. I lost my girlfriend and my baby in one night.

My girlfriend… I know that I will never be able to call her that again… hell I didn't deserve to call her that again. I betrayed her love; I made a fool of her… and all for meaningless sex. What am I going to do? I need to see her. I hope she's going to be ok. She'll never forgive me, I don't expect her to… she'll probably hate me.

Just then there was a knock on the motel room door where he had been staying for the last week or so. He had checked in and only gone out to buy beer and on occasion food. No one knew he was there… it must be housekeeping.

"Yeah, hold on" he struggled not to stumble. Four days of heavy drinking do horrible things to your balance. He opened the door and saw the last person he needed to see. Terry Gilman stood there wearing a business suit and fancy shoes and a leather purse.

"How's it going stud?" she purred. "It took me a while to find you, but here I am. You miss me?"

"I don't want to see you or anyone at the moment, so you can just leave the same way you came" He barked at her.

"Woooo look who's in a bad mood" She said as she pushed herself into the room. "I bet I can make you feel better."

"Listen Terri I really am not in the mood to play games or have sex right now…. You know what? I don't want to see you ever again."

"OOhhhh you don't mean that, you always say things like that but then you always came back to me." She cooed.

"Not this time Terri, this has gone far enough!" He yelled.

"Are you still upset about Stephanie?" She asked with disgust.

"Upset? What the fuck do you think? I screwed up royally!"

"Listen if you really want her I'm sure she'll take you back, she always does."

"Listen, I don't know why I'm even talking to you about this, but yes I want her back, even though I'm sure she won't want to ever look at me again… and to be honest I know I deserve that." He sighed.

"She'll get over it… it was hardly that much of a big deal."

Joe shot towards her and closed the gap between them, towering over her, he grabbed her by her arms and started to nudge her towards the door.

"You listen to me and listen well. You'll never be half the woman Steph is, and that's all I'm going to say about that. And regarding her pregnancy or the baby… If I hear you even utter a syllable about them, I'll make sure your family knows about a few of your dark little secrets… understand?"

"You have the nerve…." She was interrupted by the door slamming in front of her. She practically ran to her car and peeled out to the parking lot.

Crap. That bitch! I need another beer. He went to the small fridge, grabbed another beer and went to the phone.

"Carl?" he asked in a panic tone.

"Yeah… Who's this?" Costanza was puzzled; he recognized the voice but was stunned by it. No one had heard from Joe in about a week. And even before he disappeared, he just sat in a corner of the waiting room all by himself and never spoke to anyone.

"Its Morelli, how's it going?"

"Fine, what can I do for ya?" He tried to be cordial but cold at the same time. It was Morelli's fault that Steph was laying in that hospital bed.

"Listen, I really need to know how Step is doing. Has she woken up yet?"

"As far as I know she woke up for a bit yesterday afternoon, but she passed out again and hasn't woken up since." His tone was crude.

"Does she know?" he whispered.

"Yeah, Ranger told her. He was the only one in the room when she woke up?"

"Ranger? When did he get here?"

"About a day after you stopped going to the hospital, hasn't left her side." He barked. Joe could feel the anger in Carl's voice.

"Ok. Well thanks for the info, man. Later" and he disconnected.

Ranger is there and I am not. Well at least I know she's surrounded by all those she loves. Except me. I love her, but I cannot bear to be near her right now… I hate seeing her in that bed all bruised up and unconscious, all because of me.

What have I done? My baby… Oh God. I've wanted to have a baby with her for the longest time, and now that we had a chance… he's gone. He sunk in the arm chair that faced the rest of the room and took another long sip of his beer.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

"Hello Mr. Plum" a deep low voice came from the corner of the room, which caught him by surprise.

"Ranger! You just about gave me a heart attack. I didn't know anyone was here." Frank said as he walked toward the side of the bed where his daughter still lay unconscious.

"Sorry Mr. Plum, I didn't mean to startle you. I've been here all day." It was the truth. He had no other place he'd rather be.

"Thank you for being here. I know you must have put a lot of business aside to be here."

"It's not a problem at all. I didn't want her to be alone in case she woke up again."

"You can go if you need to be anywhere. I'll be here for the next few hours."

"If it's all the same to you sir. I'll stay here with her. If you want I can step outside and give you some privacy."

"Don't be silly. We can keep each other company. Has there been any news?" Frank asked even though he already knew the answer.

"No sir, the Dr. stopped by to see her this morning and all is the same. The therapist came by in the afternoon to move her around a bit and massage her muscles, and the new CT scan was done about 2pm. Results should be back later on tonight."

"It has been too long… I'm a… afraid she's not going to wake up." His voice cracked.

"Sir, she'll be fine, she's resting. Steph is a fighter, she'll get through it." He wished he believed the words he was saying himself. But the truth was that he was just as scared as Steph's father was, if not more.

He had been praying from the moment he was told about Steph's accident, and when he first saw her lying in that bed, he had started praying around the clock. He had made promises to God, promises he intended to keep if she woke up from her coma.

"You know when she was a little girl she used to play house like any other girl her age… I used to laugh because she wanted to have babies so much when she grew up. Then when she married Dickie, she told me that she wasn't sure she was good mother material. After the divorce she spoke to me about not wanting to marry again… some how I know she wasn't kidding. And now after this, I'm just afraid what she is going to think about her future."

"Sir, it's understandable that she might feel depressed after this. We'll just have to be by her side and let time heal her pain." He was trying to be as calm as possible. Every time he thought about all the pain the men in her life had submitted her to, he felt sick… mostly because he included himself in the list. He had made a mistake by sending her back to Morelli. He had wronged her by not admitting he had feelings for her and by not being brave enough to show her.

After a few minutes of silence. Frank looked up at him. "Have you heard from Morelli?"

"No, sir." He didn't want to tell him that he had a task force out looking for him.

"I don't understand. He should be here too. I know he loves her. I'll never forgive him for cheating on Steph. But the accident is just that… it's not really his fault." He stood and stared a Steph. She looked so pale, so thin and fragile. "To tell you the truth, I don't want to see them get back together. He doesn't deserve her. But it was his child and he should be here by her side."

"Sir, I agree with you. He should be here. But maybe we should think about Steph. I'm not sure it'll be easy for her to see him right now. In my opinion it's probably better if she wakes up and has time to swallow the news about the baby."

"You're right son. I'm sure it's going to be real hard for Steph to get through the loss of her baby. She's lucky to have friends like you. Thank you for being here." He walked up to Ranger and hugged him. A thankful embrace.

"Mr. Plum I'm not going to leave her side. I'll help her anyway I can to get through her mourning and what ever else after that. You can have my word on that." It was the least he can do for her. She was going to need him more that anything now and he'll be dammed if he was going to let Joe hurt her again.

"Well then I'll go. Ellen is babysitting the girls and she said she needed help before supper. You know son, you are welcomed to stop by and have dinner with us anytime you please. There'll always be a place at our table for you."

"Thank you Mr. Plum. Maybe when Steph wakes up I'll take you up on that offer."

"See you tomorrow. I'll be by in the morning. Take care of yourself." As Frank walked out of the dim room he truly did thank God that his daughter had a man who loved her as much as he did.

The moment he was left alone in the room he let out a deep sigh. He felt like a teenager in love talking to his father-in-law for the first time. He knew that this was anything from the truth. He wished and hoped so deeply that one day he would be this man's son-in-law… but before that Stephanie had to get better, she just had to. And when she did it would be the second chance he had been asking God to give him. He promised himself he wasn't going to waste any time; he wasn't going to play games anymore. He was going after his babe once and for all.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

It was 2am and the room was dark only lit by the street light that shone through the blinds in the window. The constant beeping of the machines that monitor Steph's vitals was drilling a hole in Ranger's brain.

The chair that he had been sitting around the clock for the last ten days has begun to sink and the springs were bulging out and digging into his ass. There were 32- 16x16 rectangle tiles on the roof and 48 vertical stripes on each wall. He had read three books, worked on business contracts on his laptop, completed two crossword puzzle books and watched more TV than he had EVER had. But he would never think of leaving this room until she woke up.

He had only stepped out daily for an hour to shower and dress. But most of my time he spent it just staring at her, holding her hand and caressing her cheeks. Which is what he was doing right this minute.

All of a sudden he felt her move her hand in his. He looked frantic and saw that she was trying to open her eyes.

"Babe?" He whispered. "I'm here its ok. Open your eyes for me."

She started to rub his hand. "Come on baby, try to open them, I want to see those beautiful blue eyes."

She slowly fluttered them open. His heart was pounding in his chest. His palms were sweaty.

"Hey there, how you feeling tiger?" He asked in the sweetest whisper.

"W… hmmm … water." She said in a husky voice. He reached over the table and poured some ice chips in a cup and filled it with water. He pressed the straw on to her lips and she took a few sips.

"Hey slow down, He don't want you to get sick. You haven't had anything in your stomach in to weeks."

She nodded. "I'm just thirsty." She was staring. Those beautiful eyes were looking at me and they were filled with confusion and pain.

"Let me get the Dr. or the nurse, they should know you're awake." He opened the door and softly got the nurse's attention without stepping out of the room. He didn't want to leave her alone, not even for a second. The Dr. came in right away.

"Nice for you to join us Ms. Plum, everyone has been worried sick about you." She cooed. "How do you feel?"

"Sore, achy, I have a headache, the right side of my torso hurts and I have cramps. Other than that I'm just peachy." She smiled. God it was good to see her smile.

"Ok. Well let me examine you. Mr. Manoso could you excuse us?"

"Its ok if he stays. He's a friend of mine, and I rather he stay." Steph looked at me and my heart thumped harder.

"Yes of course. But I do have to do a pelvic exam, are you both comfortable with that?"

"Its ok with me, you don't have to stay if you don't want to Ranger." She said with pleading eyes. A pelvic… oh lord. But she wanted him to stay.

"No, I'll stay here." At this time he realized he was holding her hand because she squeezed it.

"Thank you" She whispered.

"Ok, well Ms. Plum you suffered severed injuries. Starting with a broken right arm, three broken ribs which punctured your lung, broken collar bone, internally you also suffered some damage to organs which were repaired with surgery. Now… He was informed you know about the miscarriage." At this Steph's eyes began to tear and she squeezed his hand harder. He used his other hand to caress her cheek.

"I'm sorry Ms. Plum but it was instantaneous. By the time you arrived at the ER it was too late."

Steph just looked at the Dr. but she didn't say a word. He couldn't imagine what he could say.

"I'm going to have to perform a pelvic exam and an ultrasound to make sure everything is ok down there." Steph turned her face away from us and He could see her chest tremble as she cried.

"Hey… you're going to be ok. The Dr. has to do this, but I'm sure it's going to be fine." He said and she turned and he wiped the tears away.

The Dr. explained to them what she was going to do. As she started he could feel Steph's body tense and more tears started coming.

"Ms. Plum everything seems fine… I don't see why you should not be able to have normal pregnancies in the future." Steph didn't respond.

"Thank you Dr. we'll call you if we have any further questions." He said as the Dr. walked out of the room. He turned to look at Steph.

"Hey Babe…" He said giving her the full two hundred watt smile.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

"Hey Babe…." He said giving her the full 200 watt smile.

"Hey" She said in a shaky voice that barely came out as a whisper.

"Are you hungry?" As if he didn't know the answer to that.

"Not really, but I guess I should eat huh?"

"Yeah, babe, you should eat. But, the doctor has you on a strict diet until tomorrow."

"Ok." She looked around the room and took in her surroundings, and wondered where everyone was.

"Maybe I should call your parents and let them know you're awake, I'm sure they'll come over right away." Darn ESP she thought.

"Well maybe in a few minutes… let me adjust first."

"Sure thing, babe." He picked up the phone and ordered her a meal from the hospital kitchen. "Food will be here in half hour."

"Thanks." She stared at him. Before the accident he wasn't even in town. She wondered why he had come back. "When did you get back?"

"About six days after your accident, I would of being here sooner but it was practically impossible for me to leave the job I was working on without attracting too much attention."

"I see. Thanks for being here, I really appreciate it."

"I know, babe. I'm sorry any of this had to happen to you. But I want you to know that I'll be here to help with anything you need."

"Thank you." Her heart ached because she realized that Joe wasn't there. Then she thought about the night of the accident and how she had caught him with Terri. Her expression changed and her eyes narrowed.

"Where's Joe?" She asked with and angry voice.

"He stopped coming by a day before I showed up. No one has seen him or heard from him since. I'm sorry babe."

She sighed and her eyes filled with tears. "He was cheating on me… he has been cheating on me for a while, I know it. What did I do…"

"Babe… listen do not blame yourself for this. It was his choice to sleep with her… his mistake not yours. He's a fool for not realizing that he could loose you by doing it."

"God I'm so stupid, I should have seen it months… no years ago. He always left the house late at night 'working' or he would disappear weeks at a time supposedly working too."

"Hey… its ok now… don't worry about it."

"I don't want him back in my life… maybe someday I'll forgive him enough to be his friend but not right now." She sobbed. "The pain is just too much. I never really wanted to marry him, but after I found out about the baby, I convinced myself that it was the best thing… I was going to tell him over dinner but he took off right in the middle of it to meet Terri." She viciously wiped away her tears with her hands.

"It's ok to cry, it's probably good to get it out of your system." He cooed.

"Oh God, listen to me… I'm carrying on about all this stuff to you. Sorry, I didn't …"

"Hey, hey what are friends for? I'm here to listen and help anyway I can. Now… Let me call your parents and let them know, its only fair for them to know your up, they've been really worried."

"Okay… thanks again." She said with a half smile. He walked to the table where the phone was just as her meal arrived. The attendant placed the tray on the rolling table and swiveled it towards her. Eeewwww. Hospital food. She must have made an awful face because Ranger turned towards her and gave her sideways nod. He hung up the phone and walked towards her.

"Here I'll feed you; you're too weak to lift yourself yet."

"Ranger! No! I can manage." She tried to prop herself up on her elbows, but the pain was too much and she sank back down.

"Babe… Stay still, you can hurt yourself!"

"Ok, Ok. Maybe your right." She said with a strained voice.

"You see… Now let me feed you." He began to spoon some of the mashed potatoes and feed them to her. He would gently wipe her mouth with the napkin after every bite.

Oh brother… He really can be the best man possible. All muscle, fierce, but a big teddy bear.

"All done. Now let me brush your hair; don't want your family to see the mane out of control." And just like that he picked up her brush and started combing her hair being as gentle as he could.

The door opened and a whole herd of people bounced in. Ellen, Frank, Grandma Mazur along with her new boyfriend Ted, Valerie and her kids, Albert, Eddie, Carl, Lula, Connie, and of course Mary Lou.

Does anyone doubt that the grapevine method of communications fails in the burg? With all the noise going on in the room her head started spinning and bells were ringing in her ears. Ranger caught sight of this and crossed the room and sat next to her.

"Let me know when all this commotion is too much for you." He whispered in her ear. She nodded and kept up with all the questions as much as she could without crying.

Twenty minutes later everybody was clearing out. Carl stood in the corner staring at me.

"What's up Carl? You look a little lost."

"Just thinking… listen Steph I wasn't going to mention this." He sighed, looked at Ranger, and swallowed hard. "Joe called me a couple days ago and asked how you were doing." He looked to see if her expression had changed. All he saw was her blank face. "I told him you weren't up yet and he hung up."

"Thanks Carl."

"No problem… I'll see you tomorrow." He stated walking towards the door and Ranger got up with him. He reached him by the door and they spoke in hush voices.

"I'm trying to get a hold of him Carl, if he calls you again let him know he can reach me at my cell phone." Ranger said in a whisper, he didn't want Steph to know he was looking for Joe.

"I'll let him know. Later."

Ranger kept the door opened and motion to the nurse. When she walked up to him he asked her to give Steph a sponge bath. He waited outside of the room while she did.

"All done. I'll let your husband know he can come in now." She said. "You know he hasn't left your side since he got here."

"He's not my husband… but he is a great friend."

"Well I say friends can't get any better than that." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"I'll tell your friend he can come in now."

"When can I go home?"

"Well since you were out and not moving your fractures have heeled rapidly, if everything keeps going the same, I would think in a couple of days." She said walking towards the doors.


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9_

She was discharged from the hospital four days later under some conditions. First she had to have a nurse with her 24/7 for the first week, physical therapy for 4 weeks, and limited mobility for 2 weeks. Well, 'stick me in the nut house and throw the key away' she though. Confinement wasn't her thing, but at least she was in her apartment.

Her mother brought her food daily and Ella stopped by twice a week to clean (Ranger's orders). She had daily visits from Eddie, Carl and Mary Lou. Lula and Connie stopped by a few times and so did Tank and some of the merry men. Ranger on the other hand practically spent every free moment with her. It was nice. He didn't have to be there daily, and sometimes he would spend the night on her couch, because he kept saying that he didn't want her to be alone too much.

The one person who she hadn't heard from or seen was Joe.

She had asked Ranger and her father a couple of times but both just changed the subject. She could never forgive him for cheating on her, but the accident wasn't his fault. It did hurt to think he didn't care enough to come visit her.

Marylou said that no one had heard from him and Eddie said that Joe had put in for a leave of absence. Either way, she wished he'd stopped by.

It was now one month and a half after her discharge. She was starting to grow roots into the floor. She need to get out, this was ridiculous. So… she put on a pair of jeans, and white t-shirt… she couldn't put her socks or shoes on because she couldn't bend down without feeling pain. She did her hair as well as she could and put on a full face of makeup. Then she plopped on the couch and waited for batman, she knew he was going to give her a hard time about going out.

She heard the lock and the door swung open. He looked tired, but he stopped on his track when he saw her dressed and on the couch. She'd been wearing pajamas and sweats since she left the hospital.

"Babe." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "All dressed up and now where to go?" He gave her a half smile.

"Well I'm glad you asked… I was thinking that maybe its time for me to go out."

"You know you're not ready, you're still in a lot of pain." He started to walk towards the kitchen and she quickly got up to follow him. Wincing at the pain in her abdomen.

"Ranger, I'm bored out of her mind. I need fresh air. PLEASE!"

"Ok then I'll open the window… all the fresh air you want. But I don't know if you should go out yet Babe, I don't want you to get hurt." He said with puppy eyes.

She had to admit, he was taking excellent care for her. Her mother was even in awe at the way he helped her walk and sit or the way he tried to feed her even when she could do it all on her own.

She had been feeling a lot closer to Ranger since her accident. When somebody was around he put up his blank face and tough image, but when they were alone, he smiled a lot… laughed out loud often and snuggled sweetly as they watched movies. This Ranger she was beginning to like a lot!

She walked up to him standing really close. "Pretty please, I want to go out, please?" She batted her eyelashes, leaned up and gave a kiss on the cheek.

"That's not fair Babe, your playing with fire." He put his arms around her waist and rocked me from side to side.

"Listen I'll be out with you, I know nothing is going to happen. You can take me anywhere YOU want, but I just want to get out." she pressed hard onto his chest. She can play hard too.

"Ok, we'll go out, but just for a couple hours. I don't want you to go to bed so late." He let go of me and led me to her bedroom. "But first I think you need shoes."

She laughed and sat on the bed. "I was thinking the same thing but this pain doesn't let me bend down that far yet. Maybe you could help me."

"Of course Babe, anything for my princess."

Princess? She had never heard him say that before. Uhmmm interesting.

"Grab the sandals with the long strings... The heels are not that high on those." she giggled at the thought of big bad Ranger digging through her shoes trying to find the right ones. He opened her shoe closet door and looked at me.

"Babe, why on earth do you need so many pairs of shoes? How many do you have?" His hands were on his hips surveying the neatly colored coded array of shoes in front of him.

"Hey a girl needs to accessorize, and shoes are the major accessory. One can never have too many shoes!"

"How many?"

"All together, or by season?" She asked in a sheepish tone.

"Babe."

"Fine 47 pairs… Ok." Well, it wasn't that bad… she could go insane and buy a pair for every outfit. She was sure rich people and celebrities had thousands of pairs of shoes. What are 47?

He shook his head, and handed her the sandals she had asked for as he kneeled in front of her. She handed him the first and he lifted her foot. Boy was it getting hot in here or what? He caressed her foot and placed it in the sandal tying it around her ankles. He moved to the other foot and performed the same movements ever so slowly.

"You have beautiful feet." He said in a low husky voice.

"Thanks. Let me get my purse and let's get out of here." She got up as quickly as she could. Ranger always knew too well how to play hard. And she was sure he loved 'applying pressure.'

"Where do you want to go? Dinner?" He asked from the bedroom. She was in her foyer digging through her purse. Well she certainly didn't need any of these things. So she started to pull the out. Pepper spray, gun, bullet, handcuffs. All done, boy her purse felt 10 pounds lighter.

"Dinner sounds good I haven't had any yet." He reached me and arched an eyebrow.

"You sound witty, like a kid during Christmas." He said as he grabbed her keys and turned the lights out.

"Ranger I haven't been outside in almost two months.! Witty is not the word." her voice was almost a squeak. She was a little strung out.

"Let's go. No sudden movements and walk slow." He instructed as he held out his arm for her, and opened the door with his other.

"AAAAAHHHH, Trenton here I come!" she yelled as she hopped out of her apartment.

"Take it easy there tiger!" He smiled the full 500 hundred watt one. "This is going to be a disaster, I just know it."

"Aww Ranger, lighten up… I'm happy about going out."

"You could say that again Babe." He said as we walked down the hall.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

The city looked beautiful. Confinement does wonders to you. It was like I was looking at it for the first time. The streets were busy, children played on sidewalks, runners with sweaty bodies dodged the kids, mothers walked pushing strollers, all in all it was a nice summer night. The sky was sapphire blue with hints of yellow, gold and red. The sun had just set and it was showing all its magnificence.

We pulled up to a restaurant near pleasant point. The beach was soaring and the ocean breeze tickled my skin. The building was a one story colonial mansion, with large windows and plantation shutters. Green shrubs surrounded the lush lawn and yellow and white lilies adorned the garden. There was the most wonderful tree with fuchsia flowers that cascaded almost onto the grass on one side and made a gorgeous natural canopy on the other. There was a bench under the tree's canopy, it made for a romantic spot, and next to it was a birth bath that was crowded with four canneries.

"Like it?" Ranger said with a full smile on.

"Like it? Ranger this is gorgeous. You sure know how to make a girl smile!" She looked at him and saw emotion. She saw that the blank face was replaced with happiness. He came around her side opened her door, and held his hand out to her.

"I love this place. I haven't been here in a while, but the food is excellent and the atmosphere is fun." He wished the festive surroundings will help bring her out of her depression. It has been two and half months since her accident and she needs to move on with her life. Just then her stomach growled. "I guess we got here just in time."

"Well then let's get to it." Her eyes glimmering in the setting sun. She felt good; it was nice to get out of the apartment. It was time. Time to let sad feelings go. Her life had changed the night she lost her baby. She hurt for the outcome of the accident, but had learned to live with the fact that it was an accident. It was time to move on and forgive Joe. Time to realize that they will never again have a romantic relationship.

They were greeted by a young woman wearing a female version of a tuxedo.

"Good evening. Table for two?"

"Yes. Something on the terrace please." Ranger placed a proprietary hand on the small of her back.

"Certainly, follow me." She looked at Ranger from head to toe. Hooch.

"You know I'm not made of glass. Women should try to make it a little less obvious when they drool all over you." It sounded a little higher pitched than she wanted to.

"Jealous Babe?" He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, smirk in place.

"No! I just think that they should keep their hormones in check, that's all." And eyes locked in another direction, hands to themselves, and tongues in their mouths… Christ! Where are all those thoughts coming from?

The terrace was dimly lit with the sun, candles on the small round tables and tiny white lights that were suspended from the ceiling. The terrace was almost at beach level only three steps to the sand where there were a path made out of tea light candles. This was a very romantic place. We were seated at the farthest table in the corner, and the ocean breeze swept passed us with almost a musical hymn.

"Ranger this place truly is remarkable. Thank you for bringing me here."

"Well you wanted to go out, so only the best will do for your first outing."

"Hmm… I love the ocean. The waves crashing… its tranquil." She stared into the ocean. It was so grand. You could still see the glimmer of the sun, it was like glitter. Red, yellow and almost orange glitter that sparkled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I used to come here when I would feel down." He thought about all those times that she went back to Morelli, those were some of the most confusing periods of his life.

"It's peaceful." She closed her eyes and took in the smells of the ocean and the caress of the breeze and she felt peaceful.

Ranger just looked at her. He wished he could hug her, keep her tight against his chest and make things better for her. He hoped she would talk to him about what she was feeling; he wanted to help ease the pain, hold her hand through this ordeal.

"Everybody treats me like a porcelain doll, fragile, like if I'm going to break any minute." She sighed.

"Babe, you went through a horrible experience. One of the worse if you asked me. A cheating boyfriend, a car accident and the loss of a baby, it's very traumatic."

"I know… but I've come to terms with it. I can't forget what Joe did, but I forgive him. Neither he nor I had control of the accident, and the loss of the baby is not his fault." She felt calm, relieved to be talking to someone about this.

"Yeah you're right about those things, but how do you feel overall?" He looked nervous; he didn't want to push too hard.

"I woke up this morning and I decided to go on with my life, I won't have complete closure until I see Joe, but I feel so much better. It wasn't time for my baby, and I understand that now."

"Babe…"

"No, listen, I thought I didn't want children but when I found out I was pregnant all these feelings I never though I could feel came naturally to my heart. I want that someday."

His heart starting beating faster, his palms sweaty, his jaw clenched. He wondered if she would be able to go back to Morelli after all of this. He had disappeared.

"Someday?" His voice was the usual flat tone.

"Yeah, someday." She locked eyes with him. "Not with Joe, I can't go back to him. Our relationship is shattered, there is nothing either one of can do about it. I hope we could put this whole thing past us and stay friends." She waited for his reaction, a hint of what he was feeling. But as usual he kept his blank face in place. "I just hope we can talk about it some time soon, I wonder where he is."

"Babe, he's a jerk for cheating on you, but I'm sure he's having a tough time dealing with the accident and the baby."

"Yeah, I just wish I could see him. Maybe if we talked he'll feel better."

They were interrupted by the waiter and they ordered dinner.

"What are you going to after your doctor clears you for work?"

"Well, I had been thinking about that too. I wanted to get trained, I'm tired of being so inept at my job, I want to be able to defend myself, but most of all I want to be in better shape."

"Really? Babe… good for you. You know you are still a Rangeman employee you can train with the guys if you want. I could teach you martial arts, Bobby is the computer geek and he can teach you all about that stuff, Lester is the best with guns, and Tank can teach you how to be aware of tails and how to loose them." He was beaming. This is the Steph he knew. She was as strong as ever, and he was proud of her.

"Yeah I was hoping you guys could help me. You sure the guys wouldn't mind?

"Mind? Steph they love you, you're like a sister to them. I know they'll be lining up to train you."

"Ok, well as soon as the MD says its ok we'll organize something, okay?"

"Sure, I'll talk to the guys tomorrow."

The food arrived and ate in silence. When the dessert trolie came around Steph's eyes widened like a kid during Christmas.

"See anything you like babe?" He chuckled.

"uhmm… that tiramisu looks out of this world. I'll have that." She licked her lips and Rangers breath caught. He loved to watch her eat. The sounds she made were making him crazy. After dinner they walked on the beach for a few minutes and talked a little more about her future.

Ranger looked at his watch. "Time to go Babe. Its late and you need to rest." He held out his hand.

"Thank you so much for tonight. It was wonderful. Just what I needed." She brought her arms out and swirled towards him. She stumbled a little and he was at her side in a heartbeat.

"Careful there." He held her by the waist and looked into her eyes. She leaned up and brushed her lips to his. It was a quick, sweet kiss. He tightened his grip and returned the kiss.

"Lets go tiger. Its late."

They drove home in silence and Steph drifted off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Turmoil

Chapter 11

"Steph stop fidgeting so much!"

Mary Lou and her best friend were sitting in the small lobby of Steph's Doctor's office. It was the appointment she'd been waiting for. Stephanie was nervous, she wanted the doctor to give her clearance to go back to work at least part time. She was bored out of her mind stuck in her apartment.

She had never cleaned so much! Her bathroom was scum free; her closet had been cleaned out and re-organized. Her kitchen cabinets had been cleaned, re-lined and organized. She had made new pillows for her sofa, and her bed! For Christ sake she was becoming a Martha Stewart clone!

She had been going out daily, but never alone, one of the merry men, if not Ranger himself, would accompany her everywhere. She found endless joy in grocery shopping since she had been doing a little cooking these last few months. She also stopped by her parents' house every other day and to Mary Lou's too.

"Miss Plum? Please follow me." Said the red hair nurse from a door that led to the examination rooms.

"Here goes." Steph said to Mary Lou who looked as worried as she did. The smell of antiseptic lingered in the hall, pictures of French bistros and English cottages lined the flower wallpaper walls.

"Right in here." She held the door for her as she followed her in the room. It was small, with one of those patient beds with the leg suspenders for the Gyn check ups.

"The doctor will be in, in a little while. Go ahead and undress and put on this robe."

She did as the nurse said and waited patiently sitting on the bed facing to one of the sides. Uhmm.. She had always been curious as to how these doctors rise or lower the leg suspenders on these things.

She hopped off the bed and came to face it from the front. There must some kind of lever or button for these… Found it! As soon as she pulled the lever that was position in the middle of the bed, between the leg things… Splat! Screech! Crack! The leg suspenders came off the bed and landed very noisily on the ground. They had come totally apart. The footrest sat on one side while the pole that held it together was lying next to it.

"Shit" She hurriedly bent down to pick up the scattered pieces.

"uhhhh, ah, ah!" She yelped as she hopped in place. How in the hell was she going to put this together. Just then the nurse that had brought her in opened the door.

Steph was wearing the opened back gown and dropped the pieces that she had in her hand to cover her back side. Splat, Screech, Clink… all over again.

"Sorry, I tried to move it and it fell apart, sorry." She said as she slumped her shoulders.

"Its ok, it happens a lot." The nurse picked up the pieces and in less than 45 seconds she had swiftly put the bed back together.

"Have a sit; the doctor will be right in."

Steph left the doctors office on a high cloud. She had been cleared to work 20 sedentary hours a week. She was static so Mary Lou and her grabbed lunch at Pino's to celebrate. After the meal Mary Lou dropped Steph off at her apartment.

As the elevator doors opened on the second floor to her apartment, her body went still; her eyes were wide in awe. Leaning against the wall next to her door was Joe Morelli.

He looked tired, his eyes were wary and the sadness showed. He sprung from the wall and stood with his hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped, head dropped. He looked nervous; he was taking deep breaths and exhaling them rapidly.

She started walking towards the door, slowly, preparing herself for the upcoming conversation.

"Hi Joe" She whispered as she came to a stop about five feet from him.

"Hey Steph" He spoke with a low barely there voice. "How are you?"

"I'm ok I guess." She was playing with the keys in her hands. She pointed towards the door. "You want to come in?"

"Yes, please." You could see in his face that he was relieved that she had agreed to talk to him.

As they stepped inside Stephanie laid her purse and keys on the table and turned to Joe who had stopped just inside of the door.

"You can come in, have a seat please."

"Thanks." He took slow steps toward the couch. "The place looks nice, really clean"

"Yeah… I've had tons of time on my hands and all I seem to do is clean and cook." She took a seat on the couch next to him, but with plenty of space between them. "I've gained weight."

"You have? You look the same to me." He was looking at the carpet, trying not to make eye contact.

"Yeah well, I lost a lot of weight while I was in the hospital and during the first weeks I was home… you know all the restricted diet and stuff."

He looked pained at the mention of the accident. He hunched forward placing his elbows on his knees and dropped his hands between his legs.

"Steph, I'm sorry I disappeared" He paused, took a deep breath and locked eyes with Stephanie. "I have a lot to say so please hear me out."

"Sure Joe, I've wanted to speak to you too."

"Ok, well for starters I want to apologize for the infidelity. It started out as a work related relationship and before I could blink twice… Its no excuse, you didn't deserve that. And you'll never know how sorry I am for cheating on you." He took a few shaky breaths, swallowed hard and shut his eyes.

"I loved you, always have and always will. I screwed up, and I know that I don't deserve you. I don't even want you to feel anything for me."

"Joe…" Steph shifted her weight to face him.

"Wait, let me finish." He ran his hands through his hair. "Steph this is not a plea for you to take me back, I just needed to face up to my mistakes and responsibilities."

"I'm not your responsibility" Steph said as she frowned.

"No, your not." He turned to face her again. "But the baby was."

"Joe…" She said in a voice that held all her pain.

"Cupcake, my heart had never felt so much pain like it did that night." His eyes felt the sting of tears.

"The way you looked when you walked in on me. The misery I saw in your eyes when I opened the box…" His voice was getting thick and hoarse.

"How you looked when you lay on the street covered in blood. And then when the nurse told me… I lost it." He stood from the couch and walked towards the window.

"Joe, you realize that the accident was just that… it wasn't your fault. If anyone is to blame, I should blame myself for being so careless." She said from the couch, her own tears streaming down her face.

He whirled on her, looking fierce and distraught at the same time.

"Don't you dare blame yourself!" He shouted "don't you dare, I won't let you."

Silence fell between them and he slowly moved back to sit on the couch.

"Sorry… it's just that it really wasn't your fault." He wiped his tears. "When we all found out that you wouldn't wake up from surgery, it just tore me apart." He sighed. Fresh tears streaming.

She came closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Steph… I wanted a baby with you for the longest time. And when I finally get my wish…" He was sobbing now. "I killed our baby! Don't you understand?"

"Oh Joe… no, no." She laid her head on his shoulders. "You didn't do such a thing. It was an accident; I got hit by a car…"

"It was my fault you were upset, my fault you ran!" He dropped his head. "My fault you lost our baby." He whispered as he shut his eyes real tight.

Steph got up and headed for the bathroom. She reappeared with a box of tissues. This was going to be a long afternoon.

"Then the thought of you not waking up, did me in." He took a couple of tissues and wiped his face. "I literally stayed in a hotel outside of Trenton for weeks. I drank a lot. It was all I could do to numb it out."

"Are you doing better now?" She asked as she too made a dent in the tissue box.

"Yes, came to my senses." He turned to her. "How about you?"

"Well physically I'm ok. I was cleared to go back to work part time today, so I'm excited, I'm tired of being home."

"I'm so glad your better. I was afraid of loosing you too." He managed a small grin.

"Listen Joe… I am still really hurt by what happened between you and Terry. When I found out about the baby, I was really confused. But I had hoped that we could give the family thing a shot" She inhaled deep. "You shattered that dream, when I caught you with Terry."

"Steph… I'm sorry"

"Listen, that's in the past. I don't blame you for the lost of the baby. It wasn't your fault. It just wasn't the right time I guess."

"I've spent all these night wondering if it was a boy or a girl, what he or she would have looked like." He saw the sadness in her face, and winced at the thought of her own pain. " I know it must hurt you a lot too, I'm sorry I wasn't here to comfort you through this."

"Hey its ok… all in the past."

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking. All of the feelings that had been bottled up in the for the last three months were out in the open. They cried together, laughed and yelled away all bad feelings. Joe was actually transferring out of town to New York. They said their good byes and promised to keep in touch.


	12. Chapter 12

__

Turmoil

Chapter 12

Crap. Stephanie being Stephanie was late to work on her first day back. She had set the alarm for 7am so she could have enough time to shower and get ready. But did she wake up at seven? No… instead she kept slapping the buzzer until she realized it was 8:15am. She had to be at Rangeman at 9am.

Ranger had given her, her old job back doing searches. Of course he restricted her schedule to just 9am to 1pm, Monday to Friday 20 hours a week. He was following doctor's orders by the book. She tried to persuade him to let her work 30 hours a week but he refused.

Shit, Crap, Shit… crap. She was so late. It was 9:20am when she pulled into the underground parking lot. When she made it to the second floor Ranger was by the elevator waiting for her.

"Babe." He was leaning against the wall arms crossed over his chest. His hair was long enough now and it was tied back. He had a devilish grin on his face, Oh man.

"Hi Ranger. Sorry I'm late."

"Its ok babe, you didn't have to rush." He walked over to her and sweetly placed a kiss on top of her head.

"Thanks." She let go of shaky breath. Ranger still managed to make her nervous.

"Come on, let's get you settled." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and nudged her towards the communication room where some of the merry men were working.

Tank sprinted off the chair he had been sitting on and came towards her. "Hey Steph, looking good." He chuckled.

"Do not laugh at my hair. I didn't have time to blow dry it." She yelped defensively. She felt Ranger's chest shake in quite laughter. "That goes for you to!" She separated herself from him and glared at both of them. They stopped laughing immediately. That's right! Burg glare in effect.

Ranger gave a bark of laughter. "Glad to have you back, babe, we missed you."

"Yeah, I happy your doing so much better, welcome back." Said Tank as he walked back to his chair.

"Bomber! Shit, girl nice to have you back." Lester sprang towards Stephanie enveloping her in a bear hug. She tried to breathe but his embrace was tight around her chest.

"Lester…" She whispered. "How are you?" Was all that she managed to get out.

Ranger narrowed his eyes. "Santos! She can't breathe man, let her go!"

He did. "Sorry. How are you?"

"Ok. Happy to be out of the apartment. I was getting a little cluster phobic." She looked over at Ranger. "My sitters wouldn't let me out of the house too much."

"Just doing what the doctor said babe." Ranger said "You're better now, but not 100 yet, so don't get any ideas about me easing up."

She turned towards Lester and said "See what I mean."

"Yeah… Ranger patrol 24/7. Well anyways, glad you're back. Let me know if you need anything." He rubbed her shoulders and Steph swore that she could see steam coming up from Ranger's head.

"Thanks Lester." She said in a sheepish voice. Lester walked away and left Ranger and Stephanie standing in the middle of the communications room everyone staring at them.

Ranger took hold of Stephanie's elbow and continue to steer her towards her cubicle.

"I'm telling you there is going to be a murder on my account in here." He locked eyes with Stephanie. "I hate the way I get when the guys drool over you."

"Ranger you're exaggerating. They don't drool. I'm sure they think of me as their co-worker, better yet, like a sister or something"

"Yeah… Right." He sighed. "Babe, you're a beautiful woman. Any man is going to drool over you, and it's a natural reaction."

"I don't think your guys look at me that way, especially when you are standing behind me." She began to unbutton her jacket. "You know I've missed this place." She slid the jacket off her shoulders and they heard a few gasps coming from the communications room. She was wearing a spaghetti strap black top that showed cleavage and low riding black jeans embellished with a thick rhinestone belt.

Ranger looked her up and down, raised an eyebrow and leaned his head backwards looking out of the compartment that made up her cubicle. All of a sudden she heard lots of papers being shuffled, keyboards clinking and printers printing.

"Babe"

Stephanie looked at him in complete innocence, and shrugged. "What? It's just a black shirt."

Ranger took a step closer to her. "A black shirt that shows… _you_ off incredibly." His eyes ran down to her breasts. "And these jeans… hmmmm" He placed his hands on her waist. "Let's just say that now we all know for sure who wins best ass in Trenton." He pulled her so that their bodies were tightly pressed against each other. Then he circled her waist and hooked his thumb on her belt and let his hands fall over her ass. He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her jaw.

"uhmm, Ranger." She squeaked. "There is a camera in this room." Man was it hot in this office or what. She couldn't take her mind of his hands, which were settled on her ass or his mouth which was planting small kisses on her jaw line.

"You smell so sweet." Ranger pulled away a bit to look in her eyes. His eyes were now the color of warm brandy; they were half lidded and very sensual. Oh Boy. He lowered his head again but this time he kissed her, hot and heavy. There was no mistake… he has the best kisser in the world. She opened up her mouth and his tongue invaded her, she felt small sweet touches and then he went on a full invasion.

He let out a grunt from deep in his throat and she answered with a soft moan. They ended their kiss but their bodies were still glued together. "Babe, you taste sweeter than you smell." He gave her a wolf smile. She gulped and kissed him again. Only this time they jumped apart as they heard a cough and a chuckle by the door.

"Excuse me guys." Tank said as he let go of another chuckle. "Ranger, we need to leave in about 10 minutes, I just wanted to give you a heads up." He looked down at Ranger's crotch and laughed, a loud belly laugh. "What I meant was… never mind, just wanted to make sure you didn't forget about our FTA."

"Funny wiseass!" Ranger never stopped looking at Steph. "I'll meat you downstairs in ten." With that Tank walked towards the elevator, laughing the whole time.

"Oh God, that was so embarrassing. I told you there was a camera in here!" She screeched.

"That was the whole point babe." He pulled her close again. "I don't want the guys to get any ideas about you." He gave her a gentle peck on the lips and let her go. "I was just applying pressure… again."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind." He pointed toward a stack of folders. "Those are first priority, they're mine. When you finish them run the rest from your inbox."

She couldn't believe him! He was just going to ignore the subject. Well two can play this game. "Ok. I'll get to them right away." She sat down on her chair and pulled her hair back. "I'll be leaving at 1pm, will I see you before that?"

"I don't know, we have to pick up a skip that has proven to be a little slippery." He ran his fingers through her ponytail and yanked on it, tilting her head back. He leaned forward and kissed her non too gently. "If not I'll see you tonight? Maybe I can stop by with dinner."

"Sure, I have some errands to run, but I should be home by 5pm. Bring Chinese." She smiled up at him. Damm it, he is definitely better at this game than she was. "Am I going to have a merry man all too myself this afternoon?"

"Babe." And with that he walked out of the cubicle.

Oh boy she thought, things were starting to heat up again between her and Ranger. Ever since her accident he had been nothing but caring, the best of friends. He hadn't made a pass on her until today. Morelli was gone, so that was not a problem this time. She wasn't tied to anyone. Maybe this time they could see where this could go.

Bozo! What was she thinking? He didn't do relationships. He said it himself, that his love for her didn't come with a ring. Not that she wanted one, but still it meant that he didn't want to be attached. Either way, she loved the way he made her laugh, the way he made her feel altogether. He was fun to be with, easy to talk to, and cooked. Now lets not forget his body… that's where she ran into trouble. When she got too close to him, when she smelled his scent mixed in with his shower gel. Her kneeswere weak just from thinking about it, thank God she was sitting down.


End file.
